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User blog:Muhlakai/What's in my army? April 9, 2015
One of the biggest challenges for new players (or old players new to the beta) is what their army is generally going to consist of. This was a slightly easier task in the alpha with the fewer quantity of units available. The units can vary only slightly in their utility for a variety of tasks, and finding the fit that works best for you can be tricky, especially when you add in the sheer quantity of gear that can also make subtle adjustments. This post is second in a series where I will discuss what I've currently got in my primary army and why. Hopefully this will help people learn the mindset needed to build a coherent and effective army more quickly. I've stopped using any armies specifically for levelling (read why here), which has made playing more fun and relaxed. It's also improved both my skill level and my ranking. By focusing on learning how to best use just one army at a time I've more quickly mastered tossing them across the field to trample my opponents. Current Army Asterisks denote the first drop units What's New You'll note that the front line is almost identical to the last time I shared my army. I swapped in the LoW for the Zwei after a suggestion from Annathema that the LoW is better in more situations. I'm not certain I agree for certain yet, but the LoW doesn't really let me down and does seem to be more useful in more situations. The reinforcements, however, are completely different. The problem I had before was that my reinforcements would take far too long to advance. I tend to be pretty aggressive positionally, so waiting for my phalanx to cross more than half the field just took too long. Similarly, my gorillaphant was slow to move into position and simply didn't seem to cause the amount of damage I really wanted by the time the match was over. I also suspected that I didn't really need the doctor. I rarely brought him in over the other two and if I *did* need him then once again he couldn't usually get to my beleaguered units in time. Units I started wondering what I would prefer in my reinforcement line. The answer seemed to be "more speed, more durability." The 'phracts weren't added all at once. They were each added one at a time. When I started I figured that just one or two would be enough. What I found, though, was that each time I had another opportunity to reinforce I usually wished that I had another Hcav to drop into battle. ...so I filled up. The 'phract/Hcav doesn't have the biggest stick to whack opponents with, but they've got plenty of durability to sit around. Meanwhile I take advantage of the repeater's range (or the other 'phracts and their speed) to put multiple damage sources on the same target so that I can isolate and eliminate as quickly as possible. The nice thing is that what I tend to lose are the 'phracts, but I always have another to take its place. I can use the same consistent strategy from start to finish in almost any match. I have started playing with the idea of replacing the LoW with a hashashin. The reason for this is relatively simple. The LoW is great, but he has a really slow rate of fire. The hash would cause similar damage faster. The downside, of course, is that the hash isn't all that tough. This could be a blessing in disguise, though. Currently I usually lose a 'phract first. This is ok, but my LoW is often severely weakened at that point, making it a bit tougher to reassign him with any hope that he'll do much before he dies. A hash, however, especially with, say, a Hood, might be a priority-kill unit for the opponent. This would not only make him tougher, but also allow me to cause more damage to the opposing units without taking as much damage to the Hcav. We'll see. Gear The most notable gear change is that my repeater swapped out the arrowheads for combat gear. I found that the extra speed let me position her where I needed more quickly (which was important when the rest of the army consisted mostly of cavalry) and also let me worry about her a lot less. I don't worry if she has to take a hit or two while my 'phracts finish off their current target before I stick them on whomever was rude enough to jump her. I would probably put an Earthshaker on the LoW in a heartbeat, but I don't have enough runes yet to build one. He usually ends up in the center of any fightball because his role as a unit is to walk up into someone's face, then stand there beating it to a pulp. This, combined with his slower movement, usually has him surrounded. The Earthshaker would make him a crazy awesome force to be reckoned with. Playing the Army From the start I threaten the snot out of my opponent and make a point to focus all of my attacks on a single unit of theirs from the start. I run the 'phract out front to pull attackers, then back it off. Immediately I give my LoW a targeted order for whichever unit is closest to him. Then I run my 'phract around to hit that same unit at almost the same instant. The repeater follows their lead. All three whack the crud out of the poor sucker until he drops, then I pick a new target and repeat. This gives me a local unit quantity advantage from the start. When one unit drops I pull out the next 'phract. Inevitably, he's in position faster than any reinforcement they pull at the same time. Occasionally I will vary this slightly and send the Hcav deeper to hit a soft target by himself first, but this is only usually against an opponent with a poorly constructed army. More often if the 'phract is hitting a soft target he's actually doing it with the help of the LoW and Repeater. It's surprising how many opponents will overcommit their hard targets to attacking the much-faster Hcav, allowing me to ambush their ranged support with all three units at once. It's relevant to note that the strength of this army comes not from the units being particularly powerful, but rather in how it's played. (In truth, I find the 'phracts to be tricky, though rewarding, in other armies.) This approach perfectly takes advantage of these specific units' advantages. Category:Blog posts Category:Army Management Category:Strategy